Ostomy pouches are used to collect human waste products by individuals who cannot eliminate body waste in a normal manner. People who suffer from certain intestinal or rectal diseases such as cancer or Crohn's disease may sometimes require a surgical procedure whereby the diseased portion of the intestine is removed and the healthy portion of the intestine is attached to the abdominal wall. The end of the intestine is inverted and stitched to the skin forming a stoma. Waste products which are discharged from the stoma are collected in an ostomy pouch. A similar procedure can be used to remove diseased portions of a urinary system whereby a urinary tube is connected to the abdominal wall and the discharge is collected in a urostomy pouch.
Ostomy pouches and urostomy pouches are bags made of two substantially planar panels of material joined at the edges thereof with an aperture in one panel sized to fit around the stoma or the urostoma. The bag is secured to the skin of the wearer by a suitable sealing material which extends around the aperture. For the purposes of this discussion, the term "ostomy pouch" shall be used to mean both ostomy pouches and urostomy pouches since the features of the invention may be used on either device.
The pouch may be designed as a single piece, having a sealing means which extends around the aperture for sealing the pouch to the skin of a wearer as part of the pouch. Such single piece pouches may have sealed lower ends such that they must be replaced after each use, or may have a drain at the lower end thereof such that the device is reusable until the wearer chooses to replace the device.
Alternately, the pouch may be manufactured in two pieces. The first piece is a substantially planar, somewhat rigid mounting portion having a central opening sized to fit around the stoma (or urostoma). The mounting portion is made of a hydrocolloid material which has adhesive properties such that it may be removably attached to the skin of a wearer. The outer surface of the first piece has a retainer for removeably retaining an ostomy pouch thereto. The ostomy pouch has a flexible wall with an opening therein to receive waste products from the stoma and an annular attachment portion around the opening which is adapted to be removeably attached to the retainer on the mounting portion. Like the one piece ostomy pouches, the lower ends of a two piece ostomy pouch may be either sealed, such that the pouch must be replaced after each use, or be drainable, such that the bag can be reused until the wearer chooses to replace it, usually at the day's end.
When the wearer of an ostomy pouch having a closed lower end desires to dispose of the waste products collected therein, the wearer must remove the pouch from his or her body and dispose of the pouch and the contents. The waste products collected in such ostomy pouches however are usually not fully decomposed because the intestinal tract of the wearer has been shortened and, as a consequence, the waste products may have a strong odor. The wearer of an ostomy pouch having a sealed lower end must therefore deal with the mess of the waste products in the ostomy pouch and the odor emitted therefrom each time the pouch is replaced. The task is unpleasant when done in the privacy of one's own home, but the problem is even more unpleasant for one making use of public facilities.
A single piece ostomy pouch having a sealed lower end typically has a hydrocolloid mounting portion with a central opening therein for fitting around the stoma. When the single piece ostomy bag is removed from the wearer's skin, the upper half of the adhesive hydrocolloid mounting portion may be folded against the lower half thereof with the adhesive of the upper and lower halves binding against each other to seal the contents within the bag for disposal. Even though the single piece bag can be sealed, the odors are so pungent that removing the pouch causes embarrassment to the wearer, especially when it is changed while in public facilities.
The wearer of a two piece ostomy pouch is unable to seal the aperture of the pouch closed because the mounting member with the adhesive surface remains adhered to his body. There presently is no adequate solution whereby the wearer of a two piece ostomy pouch can seal the pouch for disposal while using public facilities.
It would be desirable to provide an ostomy pouch having a sealed lower end which would reduce the mess and odors that presently accompany the task of removing and replacing such ostomy pouches.